For filmgoers who grew up loving Mary Norton's book series "The Borrowers," Peter Hewitt's filmed adaptation will prove a relief: With its fanciful production design, cunning effects and charming characters, "The Borrowers" amply lives up to its progenitor.For those filmgoers' children, many of whom will be exposed to these mysterious characters for the first time, "The Borrowers" will provide sweet, wholesome entertainment that, while low on the supercharged action of most kids' films these days, will captivate their imaginations.

In "Horrible Bosses," murder is justified where the title characters are concerned. These bosses are so bad that no jury in the land would convict the frazzled employees who hatch a scheme to bump them off. Just as there is nothing subtle about this comedy's homicidal premise, its crude jokes ensure that nearly every scene does its part to merit the "R" rating. Although a lot of what happens in "Horrible Bosses" is both criminal and outrageously implausible, the humor is so gleefully raw that your ethical defenses will crumble, and you'll laugh more often than you might care to admit.

State Division of Correction officials identified yesterday the inmate fatally stabbed at the Maryland House of Correction Annex Thursday as a Prince George's County man who has spent his entire adult life in state prison. Ray Anthony Hamlet, 23, was stabbed in the chest Thursday evening at the maximum-security prison in Jessup, which recently has been criticized by correction officers and the public over security lapses, increased violence and cutbacks in the number of surveillance and patrol posts.

State Division of Correction officials identified yesterday the inmate fatally stabbed at the Maryland House of Correction Annex Thursday as a Prince George's County man who has spent his entire adult life in state prison. Ray Anthony Hamlet, 23, was stabbed in the chest Thursday evening at the maximum-security prison in Jessup, which recently has been criticized by correction officers and the public over security lapses, increased violence and cutbacks in the number of surveillance and patrol posts.

And away we go . . . Three days ago, my 17-year-old son and I left Baltimore for a 10,000-mile journey through America. Up, down and sideways we will go, in a counter-clockwise road trip from coast to coast, Great Lakes to Gulf. This morning, we should be in Cincinnati. By midnight, the St. Louis Arch should be in view. We are making the trip in a 1999 Volkswagen Beetle with a five-speed stick that Jake learned to drive for the expedition. The trunk is packed with clothes and books, dry cereal and peanut butter.

In "Horrible Bosses," murder is justified where the title characters are concerned. These bosses are so bad that no jury in the land would convict the frazzled employees who hatch a scheme to bump them off. Just as there is nothing subtle about this comedy's homicidal premise, its crude jokes ensure that nearly every scene does its part to merit the "R" rating. Although a lot of what happens in "Horrible Bosses" is both criminal and outrageously implausible, the humor is so gleefully raw that your ethical defenses will crumble, and you'll laugh more often than you might care to admit.

In Anne Arundel Community College's hotel and restaurant management courses, the emphasis is on preparing students for the real (and often unpredictable) world of the hospitality business."We always tell them, this is what the textbook will tell you -- and this is what happens in real life," says Faith Harland-White, who heads the program, now in its fifth year.A few minutes later, instructor Elaine Madden gives her own demonstration of the program's focus on practical details.Moving through the hubbub of the department's kitchen, where a couple of dozen students are busily making elaborate preparations for a benefit buffet dinner to be served later that day, Ms. Madden pauses next to one young woman who is halfway through chopping a small mountain of fresh garlic.

When I went to work for the Library of Congress in 1977, the stacks were completely open. Members of the staff and the public roamed at will. Thousands of books and other items were lost. I remember being told that when someone on the staff went to look for a copy of Audubon's Birds of America, he discovered that most of the plates were missing. They had been cut out and, presumably, sold separately. In 1987 James H. Billington was sworn in as the 13th Librarian of Congress. He closed the stacks to the public and to most of the staff.

By Betty Rosbottom and Betty Rosbottom,los angeles times syndicate international | February 11, 2001

Breaking with tradition, we spent the Christmas holidays in Paris this year. My spouse, the curious professor, was working in libraries, while I did research in markets, bistros and cafes, searching for ideas for this column. For lunch one day, I met a colleague at a restaurant on the Left Bank. We both ordered braised fennel with warm goat cheese on a bed of spinach and had the same reaction: The dish was impressive visually but lacking in taste. I experimented. Changing the technique from braising to roasting added a depth of flavor, caramelizing the vegetable and bringing out its sweetness.

ON AN ISOLATED, forested stretch of Philadelphia Road between Riverside and Aberdeen, the Harford County Association for Retarded Citizens is easy to miss. The world is changing all around it, however, and by that we don't mean the new shopping centers and Cracker Barrel restaurant luring motorists off the interstate nearby.The center serves roughly 250 clients, 100 families with children who are mentally disabled and 150 adults with mental retardation.Not many years ago, most of those adults would have performed low-skilled tasks in an ARC workshop -- packing dental floss, collating forms for health insurers, doing last-minute assembly of an automotive part.

And away we go . . . Three days ago, my 17-year-old son and I left Baltimore for a 10,000-mile journey through America. Up, down and sideways we will go, in a counter-clockwise road trip from coast to coast, Great Lakes to Gulf. This morning, we should be in Cincinnati. By midnight, the St. Louis Arch should be in view. We are making the trip in a 1999 Volkswagen Beetle with a five-speed stick that Jake learned to drive for the expedition. The trunk is packed with clothes and books, dry cereal and peanut butter.

For filmgoers who grew up loving Mary Norton's book series "The Borrowers," Peter Hewitt's filmed adaptation will prove a relief: With its fanciful production design, cunning effects and charming characters, "The Borrowers" amply lives up to its progenitor.For those filmgoers' children, many of whom will be exposed to these mysterious characters for the first time, "The Borrowers" will provide sweet, wholesome entertainment that, while low on the supercharged action of most kids' films these days, will captivate their imaginations.

In Anne Arundel Community College's hotel and restaurant management courses, the emphasis is on preparing students for the real (and often unpredictable) world of the hospitality business."We always tell them, this is what the textbook will tell you -- and this is what happens in real life," says Faith Harland-White, who heads the program, now in its fifth year.A few minutes later, instructor Elaine Madden gives her own demonstration of the program's focus on practical details.Moving through the hubbub of the department's kitchen, where a couple of dozen students are busily making elaborate preparations for a benefit buffet dinner to be served later that day, Ms. Madden pauses next to one young woman who is halfway through chopping a small mountain of fresh garlic.

Carmelo Anthony is No. 1 - in jersey sales. Anthony's powder blue Denver Nuggets "swingman" jersey sold 230,691 units last year, beating out Michael Vick's alternate black jersey by a little more than 4,200 shirts, according to statistics from SportScanInfo, a Florida-based firm that does market research for the athletic apparel industry. And although LeBron James' white Cleveland Cavaliers uniform top was third, the second-year player far outpaced Anthony in overall sales. James had eight different uniform styles - home jerseys, road jerseys, "throwback" jerseys, "swingman" jerseys - among the top 100, which sold more than 1.17 million units.

Ebony and eleganceThe Ebony Fashion Fair is as close as Baltimore gets to international couture. These are designer fantasies that few wallets -- or figures -- can handle, but it's a real experience seeing those Versaces, Diors and Ferauds in motion. Eunice Johnson, wife of the head of the Ebony enterprises, visits the world's designer salons with an eye to finding the most dramatic and audacious turnouts for the show. Women can dream, and the 39th annual fashion highlight is an opportunity to revel in extravagance.